DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ng et al. (WO 2019/193241 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ng discloses A device, comprising (Fig. 1, pg. 5 ll. 4-8: network entity 120 may include a base station. Fig. 5: network entity (base station) 520):
a processing system including a processor (Fig. 1: processor 121); and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising (Fig. 1, pg. 5 ll. 12-16: memory 122 includes computer program instructions or computer code that are executed by the processor 121 to perform functions):
obtaining a first index from a first user equipment (Fig. 5, pg. 7 ll. 30-31, pg. 8 l. 3: base station 520 receives one or more CA BC index values from a UE 510. Figs. 2-3, pg. 6 l. 38 – pg. 7 l. 21: the CA BC index values may be 183055, 56325, etc. or a number between 1 and a maximum number of combinations);
determining that the first index obtained from the first user equipment corresponds to a second index accessible to the device, resulting in a first determination (Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 3-7: base station 520 maps the received one or more CA BC index values to a CA BC index table and determines one or more CA BCs that are associated with the received one or more CA BC index values. Note: the index in the table is mapped to the claimed second index accessible to the base station and the received index is mapped to the first index from the UE);
selecting, based on the first determination, a first frequency band combination referenced by the second index (Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 3-11: base station 520 requests CA for one or more band combinations based on the one or more CA BCs determined based on the received one or more CA BCs. Figs. 2-3, pg. 6 l. 38 – pg. 7 l. 21: the base station obtains each aggregated band combination in each CA BC from the index); and
causing the first user equipment to utilize the first frequency band combination for carrier aggregation (CA) based communications (Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 9-14: the base station 520 performs uplink and downlink communications with the terminal 510 using the carrier aggregation configurations for UL and DL band combinations).
Regarding claim(s) 2, Ng discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Ng discloses wherein the second index is accessible to the device based on the second index being stored at the device at a time of the obtaining of the first index (pg. 7 ll. 30-35: when base station 520 receives one or more CA BC index values, base station 520 may use a CA BC index value lookup table as shown in Figs. 2-3. Pg. 8 ll. 3-4: base station 520 maps the received one or more CA BC index values to a CA BC index table as shown in Figs. 2-3).
Regarding claim(s) 6, Ng discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Ng discloses wherein the operations further comprise:
obtaining the first index from a second user equipment (Fig. 6, pg. 8 ll. 16-20: base station receives one index value from more UEs which is similar to Fig. 5, pg. 7 ll. 30-31, pg. 8 l. 3: base station 520 receives one or more CA BC index values from a UE 510. Figs. 2-3, pg. 6 l. 38 – pg. 7 l. 21: the CA BC index values may be 183055, 56325, etc. or a number between 1 and a maximum number of combinations); and
determining that the first index obtained from the second user equipment corresponds to the second index accessible to the device, resulting in a second determination (Fig. 6, pg. 8 ll. 16-20: base station maps the one index value to one CA BC which is similar to Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 3-7: base station 520 maps the received one or more CA BC index values to a CA BC index table and determines one or more CA BCs that are associated with the received one or more CA BC index values. Note: the index in the table is mapped to the claimed second index accessible to the base station and the received index is mapped to the first index from the UE).
Regarding claim(s) 7, Ng discloses all features of claim(s) 6 as outlined above.
Ng discloses wherein the operations further comprise:
selecting, based on the second determination, the first frequency band combination (Fig. 6, pg. 8 ll. 16-20: base station transmits and/or receives communications with the more UEs using the one CA BC which is similar to Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 3-11: base station 520 requests CA for one or more band combinations based on the one or more CA BCs determined based on the received one or more CA BCs. Figs. 2-3, pg. 6 l. 38 – pg. 7 l. 21: the base station obtains each aggregated band combination in each CA BC from the index); and
causing the second user equipment to utilize the first frequency band combination for CA based communications (Fig. 6, pg. 8 ll. 16-20: base station transmits and/or receives communications with the more UEs using the one CA BC which is similar to Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 9-14: the base station 520 performs uplink and downlink communications with the terminal 510 using the carrier aggregation configurations for UL and DL band combinations).
Regarding claim(s) 8, Ng discloses all features of claim(s) 6 as outlined above.
Ng discloses wherein the operations further comprise:
selecting, based on the second determination, a second frequency band combination referenced by the second index (Fig. 6, pg. 8 ll. 16-20: base station transmits and/or receives communications with the more UEs using the one or more CA BC which is similar to Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 3-11: base station 520 requests CA for one or more band combinations based on the one or more CA BCs determined based on the received one or more CA BCs. Figs. 2-3, pg. 6 l. 38 – pg. 7 l. 21: the base station obtains each aggregated band combination in each CA BC from the index); and
causing the second user equipment to utilize the second frequency band combination for CA based communications (Fig. 6, pg. 8 ll. 16-20: base station transmits and/or receives communications with the more UEs using the one or more CA BC which is similar to Fig. 5, pg. 8 ll. 9-14: the base station 520 performs uplink and downlink communications with the terminal 510 using the carrier aggregation configurations for UL and DL band combinations).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 3-5 and 9-16 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 17-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 17 recites “A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
obtaining an index from a communication device;
configuring the communication device to engage in carrier aggregation (CA) based communications utilizing a first frequency band combination when the index matches a second index accessible to the processing system at a time when the index is obtained from the communication device, wherein the second index is associated with a plurality of frequency band combinations and the first frequency band combination is included in the plurality of frequency band combinations; and
generating and providing at least one candidate frequency band combination to the communication device when the index does not match any of a plurality of indices accessible to the processing system at the time when the index is obtained from the communication device, wherein the plurality of indices includes the second index.”
Claim 19 recites “A method, comprising:
obtaining, by a processing system including a processor, an index pertaining to a use of carrier aggregation (CA) from a first user equipment;
determining, by the processing system, that the processing system lacks a profile corresponding to the index at a time that the index is obtained from the first user equipment, resulting in a first determination;
sending, by the processing system and based on the first determination, a request to a second processing system for an indication of whether the second processing system has a copy of the profile corresponding to the index;
receiving, by the processing system and based on the sending of the request, a response from the second processing system indicating that the second processing system has the copy of the profile corresponding to the index, the response including the copy of the profile; and
storing, by the processing system and based on the receiving, the copy of the profile, resulting in a stored profile.”
Applicant’s independent claims 17 and 19 as a whole comprise a particular combination of elements, which is neither taught nor suggested by the prior art of record. The closest prior(s) art found is/are as follows:
Araujo et al. (US 2023/0069951 A1) teaches in [0146]: FIG. 16 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments. The method is performed by a second base station, wherein a first base station is acting as a Master Node in Dual Connectivity, and wherein the second base station is acting as a Secondary Node in Dual Connectivity. There exist a first band combination list and a second band combination list, and the first band combination list and the second band combination list each contain supported band combinations. The method comprises step 1602 of receiving signalling from the first base station to indicate band combinations allowed to be used by the second base station, wherein the indicated band combinations comprise band combinations from the first band combination list and/or the second band combination list. The method further comprises step 1604 of transmitting a response to the first base station indicating a selected band combination.
Takahashi et al. (US 2023/0062255 A1) teaches in [0083]: At step S202, the base station 10A transmits a signal indicating the identified index to the base station 10B. Upon receiving the index indicating the E-UTRA-NR configuration/Bandwidth combination set corresponding to one or more frequency bands of the one or more LTE component carriers configured by the base station 10A, the base station 10B can configure, using the received index, a frequency band for configuring each component carrier, based on the E-UTRA-NR configuration/Bandwidth combination set in the above-described single frequency band.
Neither Araujo nor Takahashi, taken alone or in any reasonable combination, teach the claims as presented.
Therefore claims 17-20 are allowed over the prior art of record.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THE HY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3813. The examiner can normally be reached on Mo-Fr: 8am-4pm.
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/THE HY NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
TheHy.Nguyen@USPTO.gov